ICT TIPS & TRICKS
FAQs related to Computer Care
- 10 Essential Computer Maintenance Tips
- Maintain Your Desktop
- Energy Saving Tips to Reduce Workplace Energy Costs
- How to Keep Your Laptop Battery in Good Condition
- Analog vs. Digital
- Protect Eye from Computer / Notebook Screen
- Cyber Security Tips: Avoid Phishing Attacks
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- How do I check if my email is spam?
- How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files from Google Drive
10 Essential Computer Maintenance Tips
1. Protect with padding
SKINS
HARDSHELL SNAP-ON COVERS
SLEEVES
MESSENGER BAG
2. Organize cords
A ROTATING POWER STRIP
COLOR-CODING CABLES
CABLE CLIPS
ORGANIZER PANEL
3. Update your operating system
4. Unplug to avoid overcharging
5. Purge your system of junk files and programs
- Uninstall trialware
- Run disk cleanup software
- Empty the recycle bin
- Delete temporary files
- Remove cache of offline web pages
6. Run regular antivirus scans
- Slow web browser speeds
- Disrupt network connections
- Freeze or crash your system
- Alter computer settings
- Allow unauthorized access to system resources
7. Clean the keyboard and case
FOR EXTERNAL KEYBOARDS
FOR THE LAPTOP USER
8. Update your passwords
- Use at least 10 characters
- Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters
- Include both numbers and special symbols
- Add emoticons if possible (:O, :(, :D, :), T.T)
9. Organize your data
CREATE LARGE, MAIN FOLDERS
CREATE SMALL SUB-FOLDERS
EMPTY YOUR DOWNLOADS FOLDER
CLEAR YOUR DESKTOP
CHOOSE THOUGHTFUL FILENAMES
10. Back up your data
Maintain Your Desktop
Physical Care
Computers include various sensitive internal structures, and it’s important to protect
the physical wellbeing of your PC to maintain the internal components that make it run:
• Regularly clean and dust. Make sure you take the time to clean your PC of
dust and debris on a regular basis. Most electronics stores carry cans of
compressed air that are perfect for clearing out the dust and crumbs hiding
under the keys of your keyboard. Additionally, dust that collects in the air
vents of your PC could cause overheating. Try to make it a monthly habit to clean your PC’s air vents, connection ports,
and keyboard with compressed air. Additionally, you should wipe down your
mouse and computer casing with a cleaning cloth. However, do not use
abrasive cleaners – a clean, dry microfiber cloth will do.
• Inspect power supply and devices. You more than likely use surge protectors
or similar devices to power your computer. It’s crucial to make sure these
devices stay in safe working order. You should regularly check your power
supply and power outlets and look for any signs of dust or moisture
accumulation – either could be serious hazards.
Make it a point to check the power cords and other cables attached to your PC
for signs of damage or fraying. Such damage can interfere with your PC’s
performance and is a fire hazard.
Internal Performance
Cleaning your computer internally means maintaining your system to ensure optimal
performance. Additionally, proper maintenance will help keep your files secure. A
poorly maintained or rarely updated system is more vulnerable to sophisticated hacking
methods.
Try to make a few things part of your daily routine:
• Run antivirus. Your computer may have vulnerabilities that you don’t notice
until it’s too late. It’s important to run your antivirus scan every day to make
sure any changes you made or files you downloaded have not compromised
your system. Additionally, some malicious programs embed into systems
without warning and require specific actions to trigger. Scanning your system
daily will help prevent this.
• Scan hard disk files. Over time, your computer’s hard drive can slow down due
to cluttered files. When you scan your system for errors using a disk
defragmenter or similar program, you’re essentially eliminating wasted space
and helping your PC run more efficiently.
• Update data backups. You should have at least one method for backing up
your data, whether it is on a cloud storage server or an external hard drive.
Make sure you take the time to update your backups every day. That way you
won’t have to worry about losing a day’s work in the event your PC
unexpectedly crashes.
• Clear your web browser. Every time you go online, the sites you visit store
temporary files such as cookies and browsing history. Clear these files out
to help keep them from bogging down your system.
• Shut down properly. At the end of the day, make sure you save your work
before closing all your programs and shutting down your PC. Leaving your PC
on when not in use for extended periods prevents it from cooling and can
impact the machine’s performance. If shutting down interferes with your daily
routine or business requirements, put your computer into a low-power or
hibernation mode instead.
Energy Saving Tips to Reduce Workplace Energy Costs
- Establish energy-efficient practices: Depending on the utility company you are paying, they usually have off to high peak times during the day. Try your best to only use excess energy during the low or off-peak times. Encourage your employees to follow this same model and see how energy usage decreases with more initiative.
- Replace existing bulbs with CFL’s: CFL and LED lights consume less power and offer much longer lifespans. Commercial lights qualified by the Design Lights Consortium (DLC) or Energy Star can ever reduce energy consumption by up to 75% and increase the lifespan of your fixtures by 2-3 times.
- Use the hibernation feature of computers and laptops: Hibernate feature in laptops and desktops allows you to save your existing work as it is, and you can continue from the same point the next day. Schedule your workstation to switch to hibernate mode after working hours and during weekends.
- Buy energy-efficient devices: Energy-efficient devices cost more upfront, but over years of use, they’re going to save you money. This holds true for any equipment that runs on electricity – spending a little more can result in significant savings over the years.
- Use energy-saving features: Educate your employees regarding energy-saving features of air conditioners, printers and let them use those features to cut energy costs. Discard old gadgets if they don’t have it and buy energy-efficient peripherals.
How to Keep Your Laptop Battery in Good Condition
- Keep It Between 40 and 80 Percent Charge
- If You Leave It Plugged In, Don’t Let It Run Hot
- Keep It Ventilated, Store It Somewhere Cool
- Don’t Let It Get to Zero
- Replace Your Battery When It Gets Below 80 Percent Health
Analog vs. Digital
Analog Digital
Signal Analog signal is a continuous signal which represents physical measurements.
Digital signals are discrete time signals generated by digital modulation.
Waves Denoted by sine waves Denoted by square waves
Representation
Uses continuous range of values to represent information
Uses discrete or discontinuous values to represent information
Example Human voice in air, analogue electronic devices.
Computers, CDs, DVDs, and other digital electronic devices.
Technology Analog technology records waveforms as they are.
Samples analogue waveforms into a limited set of numbers and records them.
Data transmissions
Subjected to deterioration by noise during transmission and write/read cycle.
Can be noise-immune without deterioration during transmission and write/read cycle.
Response to Noise
More likely to get affected reducing accuracy
Less affected since noise response are analogy in nature
Flexibility Analog hardware is not flexible. Digital hardware is flexible in implementation.
Uses Can be used in analogue devices only. Best suited for audio and video transmission.
Best suited for Computing and digital electronics.
Applications Thermometer PCs, PDAs
Bandwidth Analog signal processing can be done in real time and consumes less bandwidth.
There is no guarantee that digital signal processing can be done in real time and consumes more bandwidth to carry out the
same information.
Memory Stored in the form of wave signal Stored in the form of binary bit
Power Analog instrument draws large power Digital instrument draws only negligible
power
Cost Low cost and portable Cost is high and not easily portable
Impedance Low High order of 100 megaohm
Errors
Analog instruments usually have a scale which is cramped at lower end and give
considerable observational errors.
Digital instruments are free from observational errors like parallax and
approximation errors.
https://www.diffen.com/difference/Analog_vs_Digital
Protect Eye from Computer / Notebook Screen
Can Screens Make Your Eyesight Worse?
Digital Eye Strain (DES), or computer vision syndrome, is more common today than ever before. Realistically, virtually everyone uses a screen in their daily life, and screen time is higher than ever before.
While not everyone spends every day looking at a computer monitor, most people do use smartphones at a minimum. Experts believe that DES occurs in around 50% of computer users.
So, do screens make your eyesight worse? Well, the good news is that eye strain isn't a long-term problem.
There's no evidence that strain makes your eyesight worse in the long run, but it can cause significant discomfort and often makes getting through a workday more difficult.
How A Computer Screen Affects Your Eyes
How exactly does the screen affect your eyes? There are several signs to look out for, and they vary slightly depending on whether you primarily use a computer or a smartphone. Let’s take a look at some of those complaints and explore how you can avoid them. The American Optometric Association recognizes the most common symptoms of eye strain as:
- Headaches
- Blurred vision
- Dry eyes
- In extreme cases, neck and shoulder pain.
How To Protect Your Eyes From Computer Screens
- Your eyes aren’t designed to stare all day at something directly in front of you, especially a digital screen. With the 20/20/20 rule, you give your eyes a much-needed break during long and extended work days.
The rule is as follows; if you look at the screen for 20 minutes, you must look at something at least 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds. However, the longer you look away from your screen, the better!
Ensure Your Room Is Well Lit
- It may sound counterintuitive, but less light in your room is actually better for your eyes when you’re working on a computer. Offices shouldn’t be too bright, so when possible, close your curtains and reduce your use of fluorescent lighting.
- Aim to use lower voltage bulbs and make sure your ambient lighting is about half as bright as the average office.
Have Regular Eye Exams
Regular eye exams with an experienced eye doctor help to keep your eye health in check and ensure any problems you might be having aren’t anything other than normal eye strain. It also provides you with an excellent opportunity to talk to an expert about your habits and eye health.
Reduce Glare
Glare on your computer screen can cause eye strain as it stops your eyes from adjusting as easily as they should to the content you’re trying to focus on.
To combat this, use an anti-glare matte screen where possible (rather than glass-covered LCDs). If you wear glasses, make sure your lenses have an anti-reflective coating that will benefit you in front of a computer.
Cyber Security Tips: Avoid Phishing Attacks
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI)
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer
systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition
and machine vision.
How does AI work?
As the hype around AI has accelerated, vendors have been scrambling to promote how their products and
services use it. Often, what they refer to as AI is simply a component of the technology, such as machine
learning. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine
learning algorithms. No single programming language is synonymous with AI, but Python, R, Java, C++ and
Julia have features popular with AI developers.
In general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labeled training data, analyzing the data for
correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. In this way, a chatbot
that is fed examples of text can learn to generate lifelike exchanges with people, or an image recognition tool
can learn to identify and describe objects in images by reviewing millions of examples. New, rapidly improving
generative AI techniques can create realistic text, images, music and other media.
AI programming focuses on cognitive skills that include the following:
Learning. This aspect of AI programming focuses on acquiring data and creating rules for how to turn
it into actionable information. The rules, which are called algorithms, provide computing devices with
step-by-step instructions for how to complete a specific task.
Reasoning. This aspect of AI programming focuses on choosing the right algorithm to reach a desired
outcome.
Self-correction. This aspect of AI programming is designed to continually fine-tune algorithms and
ensure they provide the most accurate results possible.
Creativity. This aspect of AI uses neural networks, rules-based systems, statistical methods and other
AI techniques to generate new images, new text, new music and new ideas.
How do I check if my email is spam?
Here are some additional tips to help you identify and avoid spam emails:
- Check the sender information: Verify that the email is coming from a legitimate source. If the sender’s email address looks suspicious or unfamiliar, it’s best to avoid opening the email or clicking on any links.
- Check the content: Look for any spelling or grammar errors in the email. Legitimate emails are usually well-written and free of errors.
- Check the links: Hover over any links in the email to see where they lead. If the link looks suspicious or leads to an unfamiliar website, do not click on it.
- Check the salutation and signature: Legitimate emails usually include a proper salutation and signature. If the email does not include these elements, it may be a spam email.
- Check the spam score: You can use an email checker tool to check the spam score of an email. This tool analyzes the email content, sender ID, SPF records, DNS settings, IP blacklisting, domain reputation, domain keys, DKIM, and PTR records to determine if the email is spam or not.
I hope these tips help you stay safe online!
How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files from Google Drive
Google Drive is a cloud storage service, which becomes a popular online service that many peoples use it to sync data, back up and transfer. What if one day you delete your important files but you want to recover, how should you do? Don't worry, this post offers you 4 ways to recover permanently deleted files from Google Drive.
Part 1: Is it Possible to Recover Permanently Deleted Files from Google Drive
You may want to ask "Can you recover permanently deleted files on Google Drive". Yes. Deleted videos, photos and presentations are automatically added to Google Drive Trash, which can restore about 30 days. But how do I recover permanently deleted files from Google Drive after 30 days? If you empty the recycle bin, there are still other ways to recover permanently deleted files on Google Drive, such as using the third-party software.
Part 2: 4 Ways to Recover Permanently Deleted Files from Google Drive
Here are 4 ways to help you restore permanently deleted files from Google Drive no matter you have backup or not.
Way 1: How to Recover Deleted Files from Google Drive Trash?
The easiest way to retrieve permanently deleted files on Google Drive is by restoring it from the Trash folder. How long does Google Drive Trash keep deleted files? All erased files are temporarily stored in Trash within 30 days. Here are the steps to restore deleted files from Trash:
- Step 1. Just go to Google Drive.com, click the "Trash" option on the left side.
- Step 2. Select the files you need.
- Step 3. Right click the files and choose the "Restore" option.
Way 2: Try Software to Restore Permanently Deleted Files Google Drive
If you have installed Google Drive on computer before and have synced your files on computer to Google drive, then you can try to use the professional tool -Windows Data Recovery to retrieve deleted files by scanning the folder where Google Drive is placed on the computer.
-
Step 1Launch Any data recovery software on your computer and choose a location where Google Drive sync your files. Click "Scan" to scan lost files
-
Step 2After the scan is finished, you can check if the lost files are displayed in file view.
-
Step 3Preview lost files and then click "Recover" button. And choose a location to save.
Way 3: Contact Google Drive Support to Get Permanently Deleted Files from Google Drive
This is another method of recovering permanently deleted files from Google Drive. You should use this method if you are having difficulty recovering your deleted files via other methods.
- 1. Open Google Drive website and click on the "?" icon.
- 2. Click on the "Send feedback".
- 3. Fill in the form stating your requirement and submit it. Google Drive support team will contact you later, and you can tell them you wish, they will help you recover the lost files
Bonus Tip: How to Use Google's Backup and Sync
Google has some applications that can performs a backup. Although these apps are not very professional, they can help users preserve the Google Drive data for an unlimited time period or back up Google Drive to an external hard drive.
How to download your Google Drive folders with Backup and Sync Client? Here are steps:
- Step 1Go to Google drive website to download the Backup and Sync app.
- Step 2 Launch the app and log in with your Google account. Once you sign in successfully, a window will pop up, in which you can choose the folders to continuously back up to Google Drive. Then Click "Next" button.
-
Step 3Click on the "Got it" button.
- Step 4Choose the option "Sync My Drive to this computer"
- Step 5Select a local folder to place your downloaded Drive files.
-
Step 6Tick "Sync everything in My Drive" if you need to sync the whole Drive; If not, select "Sync only these folders" to back up selected folders.
- Step7Click the "START" button. After that, you can copy all the downloaded files and save in another folder or device.
Conclusion
There are 3 ways to restore permanently deleted files on Google Drive . You can get deleted files back from Trash, ask the administrator for help, or contact Google's support team. But if you have installed Google Drive on your computer, using Windows Data Recovery can help you recover permanently deleted files with ease.